Travelling showmen camped at the side of a road in Shepperton "should be tolerated" for now, a council officer has said, until a decision is made about whether they can build a home on neighbouring land.

The lay-by along Sheep Walk became home to a showman family with two caravans last November.

Speaking at the Shepperton Residents’ Association AGM last Tuesday (March 3), John Hockley, traveller site manager for Surrey County Council, said the road needed to be looked at and possibly altered to prevent future encampments.

He added the land was currently a "natural magnet" for travellers.

Mr Hockley said the family - made up of four adults, two of them elderly, and two children - was homeless but had bought 10 acres of land next to the verge.

They submitted an application to Spelthorne Borough Council last July to create somewhere to live and house their fairground machinery and equipment, on land off Sheep Walk. A decision is due this month.

Borough councillor and planning chairman Richard Smith-Ainsley said a court injunction had previously been placed on the land so that no caravans could go on it.

The site has been used by travellers for years as they had the landowner’s permission, but no planning permission allowing them to live there.

Mr Hockley added the position of the vehicles did not affect highway safety, and said there was no evidence of any environmental problems or antisocial behaviour.

Because the family is homeless, he said, an eviction would likely result in the family camping in another unauthorised, more unsuitable roadside location.

He added: “The council considered that this case presents a unique set of circumstances and based on current guidance the encampment should be tolerated for a time, and [we should] permit the family to remain in situ pending the outcome [of the planning application].”

If unsuccessful, the family would be issued with legal notice to leave.

Answering questions from members of the public, Mr Hockley said there were many showmen in the county and not enough accommodation for them to live in.

He added: “At some point that lay-by will be returned back to a lay-by.

“I understand there’s quite a lot of history with that location and [it] has involved problems in the past.

“We will have to look at mitigation to stop it happening again in the future.”

He added the road was a target as it is wide and does not have much traffic.